Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva reflects on life nearly 1 month since prisoner swap: "I didn't believe it was real until I hugged my children."
CBSN
Russian American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva says she was fantasizing about the moment she would once again step foot on American soil and hug her family from the moment she was arrested in October 2023.
Earlier this month, after a historically complex and monthslong negotiation that involved six countries, Kurmasheva was among the three American citizens released from Russian prison. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were the other two Americans released in a prisoner swap.
"It was a Saturday morning. I was told to pack my belongings in 15 minutes and be out," she told CBS Mornings on Friday, recalling the days leading up to her return to the U.S. "And they took me to a high-security prison in Moscow and I didn't even know how long I would stay there."
